Justin Smith transcript: ‘I can do more stuff every week’

Here is what defensive tackle Justin Smith had to say in tonight’s media session, including insight on his partially torn triceps tendon:

(on how he tries to keep this week as normal as possible) “I think you just get done with today, tomorrow, media day stuff, I think it will be pretty much a regular work week where we do what we normally do on the road. We already did it once with Youngstown, so I don’t think it will be that much different.”

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(on this week consisting of more football because you’re not going home at night) “Yeah, I think so. On the floor up there we have all the film rooms and everything right up there, easy access. I kind of like being on the road for games like these. Youngtown, that seemed to treat us well for two years in a row, so we are pretty much treating that week like this one.”

(on him and Aldon Smith being from Kansas City) “Two guys from the same school, but we’re all playing for San Francisco now. I think that’s pretty cool. It’s definitely cool with Aldon coming from Missouri and playing from the University of Missouri.”

(on his relationship with Aldon Smith) “We just get along well. We work well together. He’s a cool, easy-going guy. He works hard, plays hard, and that’s all you really have to have in a good teammate. He does all that.”

(on Aldon Smith’s NFL career) “Yeah, he’s setting records left and right, so I think anytime anybody does that it’s surprising. Just his transition into the NFL and how easy he’s made it look, that’s what the great ones do – they make it look easy.”

(on what playing in the Super Bowl means to him) “I really don’t look at my career as a legacy or anything like that. I’m not one of those guys that look at that. I’m looking forward to this week and this opportunity to be with the guys. I think if anything, the opportunity to come down here and win it just makes that team get together once a year or something when you’re done playing. That would be cool, a Super Bowl reunion. I think that would be cool as far as cementing that group with a Super Bowl run.”

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(on this being the most talented roster he’s been a part of) “It’s ridiculous. You look around our locker room, and from head to toe, the offensive line, receivers, DBs, defensive line. It’s just the main reason we’re here. The talent level, what the coaches have been able to get out of us, it just all has come together. This roster is loaded.”

(on if he knew there were 15 first-round picks on the roster) “I don’t think I have ever done the breakdown, but there are a bunch of first rounders. I think just on the O-line there are three or four first rounders. That doesn’t happen very often. I think it’s a big reason why we are where we’re at.”

(on the coaching camaraderie) “I think you have to have the right ingredients to have the right meal. You have to have the chef and you have to have the right ingredients. I think how (general manager) Trent (Baalke) and (Head Coach) Jim (Harbaugh) work together – Jim and his staff – as far as getting the amount out of us that he has and the formations and all the stuff he uses has really helped us and taken us over that hump. Two years in a row now we’ve had a lot of success.”

(on a common thread between Jim Harbaugh-coached players) “No, I think this motivation deal gets over blown. I think this is about situations and being in the best situations and X’s and O’s as much as just motivating people. I think everybody in that locker room is highly motivated. You can have a pretty dry professor out there, and you could still go out and play hard. What he is, is a smart football guy. He knows scheme. He knows how to take advantage of scheme, how to be deceptive in his scheme, so that’s what he brings to the table.”

(on the emotion coming to New Orleans) “So far it’s felt like our London trip honestly apart from seeing the Super Bowl stuff and the signs. I’m trying not to watch TV, any sports channels. I’m trying to make it as even keeled as possible. I’ll look back on it all later when it’s all done.”

(on both San Francisco and Baltimore losing a conference title and then playing each other the following year) “I think last year, just speaking for myself, is just like, ‘Damn we got so close.’ I’ve never been that close in my life. You don’t think it’s over or your window is closed or anything like that just personally speaking, and you feel it kind of shutting. I was just like, ‘Damn, that was it.’ To be back in the NFC Championship game, I don’t think our team took it as much for granted how hard it is to get there. Getting to the Super Bowl, now especially, you have to take advantage of it.”

(on losing the NFC Championship game last year) “Yeah, it’s kind of like someone is pulling the rug out from underneath you. You’re like, ‘We were so close.’ We came up short, and we’re back here. We just have to go take care of business now.”

(on growing up on a cattle ranch molding him into who he is) “I don’t know because you only have your childhood. That’s all I knew. I don’t know how it would be to grow up any other way honestly.”

(on owning a ranch someday so his kids can grow up the way he did) “Yeah, I want to make them as miserable as I was. I want them to go to college and not want to come back.”

(on the extra week helping his arm to heal) “I think it’s getting better every week. I can do more stuff every week. It heals up the more time goes by. It’s feeling better. I’m getting used to wearing the brace a little bit better. I know how many more games I have left now, so it’s just four more quarters.”

(on lifting weights) “It’s just modified. I can’t do as much or some of the stuff I usually do like bench pressing, so there is other stuff. You just can’t do it in that range for that injury.”

(on his injury) “I’ve never really been injured before. I usually give guys a hard time in the training room, and now I’m one of those guys. So, a little karma came back to get me I guess.”

(on if his injury changed his fundamentals) “To a certain extent. You try to do as much as you can in the way you’re shedding blocks and stuff like that. There is a limited range in motion for sure.”

(on when he got hurt and if he thought he may be out for a while) “Yeah sure. The first thing that went through my mind was, ‘What the hell did I do?’ Number one because I have never felt a pop like that before. It’s just once you talk to the doctors and stuff like that, they were pretty confident that if it progressed right that I’d be ready to play. It worked out that way, so you just keep going as long as you can.”

(on stopping Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco) “I think the main thing is stop the run, keep the safties deep, try not to get them involved in the run game as little as possible, so (Baltimore wide receiver Torrey) Smith doesn’t run through our backfield, our d-backs. That’s pretty much the M.O. (main objective), run, run, chuck it over your head. The reason they can do that is because they can run the ball successfully on people. So, that’s going to be one of our keys.”

(on if is injury has affected the pass rush of the team) “That’s just a straight statistic, but what you don’t always see is teams play us a little bit differently. Quarterbacks drift on us a little bit more, and we’ve been playing some really good quarterbacks in (Matt) Ryan and (Aaron) Rodgers. They’re timing guys. They’re getting rid of the ball quick. They do their job really well as well, so it makes our job a little bit tougher.”

(on Aldon Smith’s lack of sacks in the last few games) “Aldon, just in this last game, he was getting lots of pressure. They know when you’re playing a guy like that, he’s going to get more attention, more chipping, he’s going to bring the line over there a little more. What the quarterback knows too is that you have to get rid of the ball. I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t have a clock that goes off when you’re practicing against a guy like Aldon. The ball has to come out in three seconds.”